5 ms·

Yup. More and more young people have no desire to own or drive cars every day. This will be a huge shift in the coming decades.

njarboe 8y ago
Wonder how many young people can spend 45 minutes without looking at their smartphone and how much internet use/addiction is pushing this trend?
- HeyLaughingBoy 8y ago
  From my vantage point in an express bus on the freeway at rush hour, I can see into cars quite well. It's people of all ages staring at their phones while barreling down the interstate at 70mph. So no, I doubt being addicted to phones is driving Transit use!
- bobthepanda 8y ago
  People have always found things to do on the train: https://mcnyblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/35mm_10292_030d.jpg https://mcnyblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/35mm_10292_030d...
- zjaffee 8y ago
  I doubt it, the number of high schoolers getting their drivers license is by far the lowest it's been in a very long time.
  - dsfyu404ed 8y ago
    Because insurance rates for new drivers are perpetually going up, states pass more and more laws with hoops to jump through and the utility it less than it used to be thanks to the internet and smartphones. They will almost all get licenses when they get to a point in their life where the cost/benefit makes sense.
    - zjaffee 8y ago
      I mean getting you're license doesn't mean you will own a car and get insurance, it's certainly a life skill to know how to drive, where many schools are still providing services that people just aren't taking full advantage of.
- francisofascii 8y ago
  I wouldn't call it addiction. But rather, transit is much more of an enjoyable experience with a smart phone and headphones than 10 years ago when you just had a newspaper.
  - SketchySeaBeast 8y ago
    I don't even look at the screen. I listen to podcasts, which I was doing ten years ago, but not fifteen to twenty years ago.
- PhasmaFelis 8y ago
  I suspect that, like most things that young people are spending less on, it's due to ever-growing financial insecurity. Interesting application of the avocado-toast argument, though.
refurb 8y ago
"Despite being pegged as the generation that shuns owning a car, millennials appear to like buying autos more than their Generation X counterparts did when they were younger."[1] [1]https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/30/millennials-like-buying-cars-after-all.html https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/30/millennials-like-buying-cars...
- tomtheelder 8y ago
  " We find that Millennials own fewer cars than previous cohorts." [1] "“Millennials have a lower rate of car ownership than previous generations at their age.” [2] "We find that today's young adults do own fewer cars than previous generations did when they were young." [3] [1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0967070X16305571 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S09670... [2] http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/demographic-shifts-shaping-future-car-ownership/ http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/demographic-shift... [3] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308021126_Millennials_and_car_ownership_Less_money_fewer_cars https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308021126_Millennia...
  - alistairSH 8y ago
    Careful with those headlines - the details corroborate the parent comment. Millennials don't own as many cars because they are poorer than their parents were at the same age. Of the millennials that are financially independent from their parents, car ownership is steady or higher (relative to previous generations). See also: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18560580 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18560580
VLM 8y ago
The desire is mostly from intense gaslighting in small population areas of the country relatively speaking. Its unlikely the gaslighting would ever work in, for example, rural Ohio.
- vkou 8y ago
  I've saved ~$6,000 this year in gas, parking, tolls, maintenance, insurance, registration, and depreciation, by ditching my car. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] My employer pays for my bus pas, but even if it didn't, I'd only be spending ~$1,200/year on it. I also dropped $300 on a really nice pair of noise-cancelling headphones, and $20 on a new umbrella. But, sure, the explanation for that must be gaslighting. [1] Insurance: ~$1,200 [2] Depreciation: ~$1,000 [3] Registration: ~$300 [4] Parking spot: $1,800 [5] Tolls: ~$1,400 [6] Gas: ~$400 [7] Maintenance: ~$200
  - VLM 8y ago
    Perfect example of what I was writing about. By analogy, consider if I cut my legs off, how much money I'd save on shoes, all the cool kids are doing it, my anecdote applies to everyone's situation, and my employer would pay the medical insurance so I'm not sure why non-cool people are walking around with legs.
    - vkou 8y ago
      > Perfect example of what I was writing about. > The desire is mostly from intense gaslighting in small population areas of the country relatively speaking. I assure you, my desire to save money did not come from gaslighting. I understand why other people make other choices, but please don't tell me why I run my life the way I do. You insist that the reason some people are ditching cars is because of irrational gaslighting. I give a single, logical reason for why I have ditched my car. You point at my explanation, and claim that it goes to prove your point. I'm not saying that my dad, who lives 20 miles out of town, and moved ~100 tonnes of cargo in the past two years should ditch his pickup truck. I am saying that there are good reasons for why many urbanites are ditching theirs.

njarboe 8y ago

Wonder how many young people can spend 45 minutes without looking at their smartphone and how much internet use/addiction is pushing this trend?

HeyLaughingBoy 8y ago
From my vantage point in an express bus on the freeway at rush hour, I can see into cars quite well. It's people of all ages staring at their phones while barreling down the interstate at 70mph. So no, I doubt being addicted to phones is driving Transit use!
bobthepanda 8y ago
People have always found things to do on the train: https://mcnyblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/35mm_10292_030d.jpg https://mcnyblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/35mm_10292_030d...
zjaffee 8y ago
I doubt it, the number of high schoolers getting their drivers license is by far the lowest it's been in a very long time.
- dsfyu404ed 8y ago
  Because insurance rates for new drivers are perpetually going up, states pass more and more laws with hoops to jump through and the utility it less than it used to be thanks to the internet and smartphones. They will almost all get licenses when they get to a point in their life where the cost/benefit makes sense.
  - zjaffee 8y ago
    I mean getting you're license doesn't mean you will own a car and get insurance, it's certainly a life skill to know how to drive, where many schools are still providing services that people just aren't taking full advantage of.
francisofascii 8y ago
I wouldn't call it addiction. But rather, transit is much more of an enjoyable experience with a smart phone and headphones than 10 years ago when you just had a newspaper.
- SketchySeaBeast 8y ago
  I don't even look at the screen. I listen to podcasts, which I was doing ten years ago, but not fifteen to twenty years ago.
PhasmaFelis 8y ago
I suspect that, like most things that young people are spending less on, it's due to ever-growing financial insecurity. Interesting application of the avocado-toast argument, though.

refurb 8y ago

"Despite being pegged as the generation that shuns owning a car, millennials appear to like buying autos more than their Generation X counterparts did when they were younger."[1] [1]https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/30/millennials-like-buying-cars-after-all.html https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/30/millennials-like-buying-cars...

tomtheelder 8y ago
" We find that Millennials own fewer cars than previous cohorts." [1] "“Millennials have a lower rate of car ownership than previous generations at their age.” [2] "We find that today's young adults do own fewer cars than previous generations did when they were young." [3] [1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0967070X16305571 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S09670... [2] http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/demographic-shifts-shaping-future-car-ownership/ http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/demographic-shift... [3] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308021126_Millennials_and_car_ownership_Less_money_fewer_cars https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308021126_Millennia...
- alistairSH 8y ago
  Careful with those headlines - the details corroborate the parent comment. Millennials don't own as many cars because they are poorer than their parents were at the same age. Of the millennials that are financially independent from their parents, car ownership is steady or higher (relative to previous generations). See also: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18560580 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18560580

VLM 8y ago

The desire is mostly from intense gaslighting in small population areas of the country relatively speaking. Its unlikely the gaslighting would ever work in, for example, rural Ohio.

vkou 8y ago
I've saved ~$6,000 this year in gas, parking, tolls, maintenance, insurance, registration, and depreciation, by ditching my car. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] My employer pays for my bus pas, but even if it didn't, I'd only be spending ~$1,200/year on it. I also dropped $300 on a really nice pair of noise-cancelling headphones, and $20 on a new umbrella. But, sure, the explanation for that must be gaslighting. [1] Insurance: ~$1,200 [2] Depreciation: ~$1,000 [3] Registration: ~$300 [4] Parking spot: $1,800 [5] Tolls: ~$1,400 [6] Gas: ~$400 [7] Maintenance: ~$200
- VLM 8y ago
  Perfect example of what I was writing about. By analogy, consider if I cut my legs off, how much money I'd save on shoes, all the cool kids are doing it, my anecdote applies to everyone's situation, and my employer would pay the medical insurance so I'm not sure why non-cool people are walking around with legs.
  - vkou 8y ago
    > Perfect example of what I was writing about. > The desire is mostly from intense gaslighting in small population areas of the country relatively speaking. I assure you, my desire to save money did not come from gaslighting. I understand why other people make other choices, but please don't tell me why I run my life the way I do. You insist that the reason some people are ditching cars is because of irrational gaslighting. I give a single, logical reason for why I have ditched my car. You point at my explanation, and claim that it goes to prove your point. I'm not saying that my dad, who lives 20 miles out of town, and moved ~100 tonnes of cargo in the past two years should ditch his pickup truck. I am saying that there are good reasons for why many urbanites are ditching theirs.